1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new imidazole derivatives and their salts which exhibit a high fungicidal activity against a wide variety of fungi which usually infest crop plants in the agricultural field. This invention also relates to the use of these new imidazole derivatives or their salts as fungicidal agent of agricultural and horticultural utilities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many kinds of fungicidal compounds are known, and among of them, some imidazole derivatives are known to have the fungicidal activity. For instance, from Japanese patent application unexamined prepublication "Kokai" Sho 52-27767 (published on 2nd March, 1977, corresponding to U.K. patent applications No. 35208/75, No. 37241/75, No. 37244/75, No. 51039/75, No. 671/76 and No. 27649/76), it is known that an ester or an amide (including anilide) of an imidazol-1-yl-alkanoic acid represented by the general formula ##STR2## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, nitro or an alkyl group; R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are each a hydrogen atom or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl group; and R.sup.5 is a hydroxyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyloxy group, or an amino group, or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl group other than a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl; and
Z is a group &gt;C.dbd.O or &gt;C.dbd.S or a derivative of the group &gt;C.dbd.O is useful as fungicidal agent of agricultural and horticultural utilities. However, these known imidazole derivatives have not always satisfactorily high fungicidal activity against a wide variety of the fungal pests.